Saturday, November 19, 2016

The seventh episode for season three of Star Wars Rebels,
Iron Squadron, is another fun solid episode, but again didn’t seem to add much
to an overall season story narrative. There isn’t much wrong with the episode
and it was enjoyable to watch, but there isn’t any actual impact on the Rebels
overall. The possibility for an overall effect on the season is if Thrawn is
using each of these engagements to lay an elaborate trap for the crew of the ghost.
This could be the case with the number of encounters Thrawn has observed and
the data he has accumulated. The only issue with this is how slowly the
narrative is taking to develop, and the small amount Thrawn has been shown in
the season.

With each week I keep expecting the for the main narrative
for the season to kick in, and each week the show doesn’t deliver. I enjoy
watching every week, and this week was not an exception. The adventure with the
Iron Squadron was fun. The action was well done and it was interesting to see
another group of kids standing up to the Empire. The running joke about the
Star Destroyer was also well done and got me to chuckle. These fun side
missions still leave me wanting something more from the show. There should be
an overall narrative and arc for the season, and for the past four or five
episodes the show does not seem to be going anywhere.

I believe in Dave Filoni and he knows what he is doing, but
I’m not sure why all of these episodes are placed together. Last season had an
issue with momentum and with episode placements to keep the tension and story
moving along. Clone Wars was at its best when it had three or four episodes
packed together to tell one cohesive story. Maybe the entire season will do
this, and once the big picture is revealed these episodes will make sense with
how they were placed within the season.
As of now it seems the show has no overall direction on where it is
going.

The show has not shown since the first week Ezra and Kanan training
with the force. Ezra had been delving into the dark side for months, but one mission
and conversation with Kanan and he is back to being normal? There should be
more development with this, and I’m sure there will, but where is it? This story
aspect should be peppered in throughout some of these side mission episodes. We
should still see Ezra struggling, unless he isn’t going to actually succumb to
temptation.

What is going on with the overall Rebellion? We see aspects
in these side missions of fighting, but not the overall picture. There needs to
be a through line for what the group is doing instead of just randomly fighting
the Empire. I had thought it was going to be investigating what happened at
Geonosis, and the crew finding more information about the Death Star. There is
an episode coming up where the description hints it could be about this, but the
it shouldn’t be a one off episode. The first half of the season should have
built to them finding out about the super weapon.

Star Wars Rebels is still entertaining. I enjoy waking up on
Saturdays making breakfast and watching it on my computer with my twelve-year-old
son. He is even becoming frustrated with the show. After today’s episode he
said, another episode that didn’t go anywhere. If the target demographic for
the show is starting to get bored it’s a bad sign. Granted he may not be an
accurate representation of his demographic, but it still is a little troubling.
Hopefully the next few episodes start to build towards a good mid-season
finale, but the next two descriptions look like side missions. The last two
episodes before the break deal with Maul and Ezra which will be great, but
again the show should have built to these episodes, instead of sticking them
before the mid-season finale.

What do you think of Iron Squadron? Did you like it or do
you think it should have utilized to a season story arc along? Comment and let
me know. Like, share, subscribe, and all that fun stuff.